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Home > Archive: July, 2016

Archive for July, 2016

No Spend Day

July 29th, 2016 at 05:36 am

After yesterday's spending, it was nice to have a no-spend day. It was also CSA day so the bounty just rolled in. After weeks with the A/C on, the temps have dropped dramatically, so we have the windows open and are really enjoying it. Those CSA veggies actually made their way into minestrone instead of the usual huge salad.

I'm counting the days until payday. It's been a long stretch without any income from me!

Some In, but More Out

July 28th, 2016 at 06:24 am

We started out the day with some more vet spending. The round of vaccinations, heart worm treatment, etc ran a cool $225. I came home to a $200 rebate from our health insurance for our CSA membership which just made it into the checking before we headed to the graveyard of no-spending: Target. DD needed a new phone, and we slightly upgraded her current pre-paid phone. It's mostly from her birthday cash, and she's v excited. As current phones go, it was cheap--well under $100. I'm a bit shocked at how many of her friends have $500 phones. But she understands our attitude towards things like that, and never complains.
While there, we also bought the graphing calculator required by her school which was on sale for $89.

On the way home we stopped at grocery as it's double coupon day, and I needed a few things for dinner. Our local grocery chain has been purchased by Kroger, and it appears they're eliminating all their own brand organics. I was WAY too excited to find most of those items tucked away around the store for 75% off. Oh my word, I got $4 granola for 75 cents, cans of chili beans for 35 cents, organic applesauce for 75 cents--it was pure delight. I loaded up the cart. We checked all the expiration dates and bought a few extra things for food shelf donations. We spend $65 and the register tape (never completely fair) said we saved $98.

It's been an interesting day; I'm sure enjoying having DD home. We spent part of the evening watching the convention and the rest reading her required book for Honors English in the fall.

Ima Saver, Where Are You?

July 25th, 2016 at 02:44 pm

Many of us are thinking about you. You ok?

Checking In

July 25th, 2016 at 03:22 am

It's been a busy few weeks. I drove DD to French camp--about 12 hours each way, except for the mammoth storm on the way home. Ah, there's nothing quite like a terrifying Midwestern thunderstorm. I pulled off the road six times between Bemidji and the Twin Cities; each time there were reports of tornadoes, or I was hit by hail or blinded by incredible rain. At one point I was n a gas station with two dozen people who all decided we should shelter in their cooler if the siren went off. But I made it, albeit in three days of solid driving. Two days later I was off to Montreal with my BFF. We had a spectacular time in that gorgeous city and did all sorts of wacky things from rooftop cocktails to ziplining and paddleboating. We rented bikes, took a bus to Quebec City, saw a beautiful waterfall, and just enjoyed our time.

Last night at midnight DD returned from camp, so I've been immersed in laundry and staying inside away from the oppressive heat and humidity. The specter of August looms, so I've been back in the saddle for a bit. I've finished about one quarter of my text editing, and my weekly class is half done. DD and I have formulated plans for the rest of the summer. More on that tomorrow.

I've been sorry to hear about Patient Saver's and Dido's job losses. Wishing them both the best.

Scavenging Payoffs

July 8th, 2016 at 03:06 am

Much to my delight, the prepaid Visas earned for our health assessments arrived this week. It was a nice $300. However, my DH seems to feel he should be able to blow that $300. I, of course, disagree. We agreed that we both could have $25 from our cards to spend on whatever. And I spent all but $5 of mine today on the dog's post-operative therapy. Bleah. But I guess it's paid for and not on the credit card.
Our CSA box is keeping us jam-packed full of veggies. I made a big pan of stuffed shells with spinach filling tonight, and we still have loads of things. Last week's box had brilliant strawberries and garlic scapes which I've had lots of fun with. Pole beans will be the challenge of the weekend.

I spent 45 minutes on the phone with Vanguard today, and am again very impressed with their customer service. I still had some stocks rolling around in an old IRA, and we got that all transferred. Looking at the statements led me into doing some retirement calculations. Thanks to some major years of contributions when I was younger, I think I can do 100% income replacement right now. That's with Social Security and that's just me--not my DH who has been lax. He's been a contractor for years without a 401K match, I nag him all the time about restarting IRA contributions, but he HATES finances. I'm going tot have to take over his as well as mine. There's UK money, but not a ton, and there's been no progress on his dad's estate. We actually sat down and talked this through tonight--which is tremendously satisfying for me and boring as heck for him.

Other things accomplished this week has been some minor decluttering and the opening of a new savings account purely for the $200 bonus in 90 days. But all of that is done.